Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Following his departure from The Damned in 1978, Brian James (former Damned guitarist) formed a new group featuring members of Hawkwind and Warsaw Pakt. This band was called Tanz Der Youth. The group consisted of Brian James on guitar/vocals, Andy Colqhoun on bass, Allen Powell on drums and Tony Moor on Keyboards. Brian once described the band as "Transmagical; the sound of the eighties." The bands sound was not like the Damend per-se, but their sound built upon the foundations that James set for the group in their early days, also with the addition of keyboards, the songs seem to have more space and a New Wave Stranglers-like feel.

In September of 1978, Tanz Der Youth released their one and only single as a group, I’m Sorry I’m Sorry” backed with “Delay” on Radar. The band was very short lived, but they did play some live dates with Hard Rock group Black Sabbath, after seven live dates on a supporting slot for Sabbath on a major tour the band backed out partially due to the negative reaction from fans. In terms of recording the band never made any other official recordings before disbanding, with the exception of a John Peel BBC Session, which featured the band playing four tracks. The tracks included were the two from their 1978 single, “I’m Sorry I’m Sorry” , “Delay” and two additional previously unreleased tracks “Why I Die”, and “Mistaken” which can be currently found floating around the internet. Following the split James went on to form two other short lived groups, Brian James & The Brains featuring a variety of Punk personal including John Towe, Alan Lee Shaw, Alvin Gibbs and Stewart Copeland of The Police (who appeared on some recorded tracks). He would later play in the band Lords of New Church with Stiv Bators, one of his longest running post-Damned bands. Currently Brian James plays in his new group The Brian James Gang.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

This Friday I filled in for CJAM's Willy Wilson on the program Friday's At The Hideout. In the hideout this week at CJAM we took shelter in a collection of Garage Rock, Surf and Punk Rock. Willy Wilson also hosts the program The Motorcity is Burning every Tuesday at 7 PM, Friday's At The Hideout can be heard every Friday from 8-10 PM. The program can be downloaded below.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Following the split of his Punk Rock group Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers after the recording of their L.A.M.F. album, Johnny Thunders (real name Anthony Genzale Jr.) recorded his first solo effort with Steve Lillywhite producing. For this effort Johnny showed off his own style of heroin soaked Blues and Rock music. It blended elements of 60s Rock, Doo Wop, Soul and Punk, in Johnny’s unique sloppy fashion he pulls off not only one of the best releases in his musical legacy, but also one of his most focused. The album featured reworkings of songs originally by The New York Dolls, such as “Leave Me Alone” (originally recorded as “Chatterbox” with the Dolls), and “Subway Train”. Along with these songs the album featured a cover of The Chantays Surf classic “Pipeline”, and R&B rave ups of “Daddy Rollin’ Stone” (Otis Blackwell), “Great Big Kiss” (The Shangri-Las). There is also a version of “London Boys”, which comes off sounding like a Heartbreakers outtake (which it was), the song was written in response to “New York” by the Sex Pistols, which poked fun at The New York Dolls. Ironically and perhaps purposely the song features both Paul Cook (drums) and Steve Jones (guitar) of the Sex Pistols in instrumental form. The album also featured an all-star cast of guest musicians such as Steve Jones and Paul Cook of Sex Pistols (as previously mentioned), Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, Steve Marriot of The Faces, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, Peter Perrett of The Only Ones, as well as some of the members of The Heartbreakers (Walter Lure & Billy Rath) and of course Johnny Thunders himself who weaves in and out amongst the songs.

One of the standout tracks is the ballad “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory”, which is a song that is seemingly about Johnny’s battles with drug addiction. But the song has its origins in Johnny’s past, it was apparently written when he was 19 years old and before he was a member of The New York Dolls. The title also was taken from a line in the classic TV show The Honeymooners and written for a close friend of his Fabienne Shine. Regardless of these facts, the song which features backing guitar/vocals by Only Ones member Peter Perrett is a lost classic. So Alone was originally released with ten tracks in 1978, but when it was reissued on CD the album was appended to include four additional tracks, “Dead Or Alive" which was a 1978 single very much in the vein of a “London Boys” styled track was recorded with a backing band referred to as The Living Dead that featured members of The Sex Pistols, The Only Ones, and Eddie & The Hotrods (all of who are featured on different tracks found on So Alone). There is also the non album track “Hurtin’” and two previously unreleased album tracks the haunting “So Alone”, and the harmonica and almost Rockabilly fuelled “The Wizard”.

So Alone blends elements of Thunders musical projects up to that point, there are elements of The New York Dolls, The Heartbreakers and a sense of his R&B roots. The album is a mix of originals and covers, some of which at that point were just features of live sets that he played with The Heartbreakers. While it may not be as fast paced as The Heartbreakers L.A.M.F., So Alone displays Johnny Thunders at his musical best. Unfortunately Johnny’s later recordings were not as consistent, but So Alone stills stands as pure Rock and Roll moment in Johnny Thunders history.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

This week I thought I would visit three interesting and exciting moments in the musical history of the television program Saturday Night Live. While a whole radio show could be made out of the excellent musical performances that this show has produced over the years its beginnings, and numerous TV specials have been made surrouding such performances, i'm not sure if a radio program has focused on these performances. Today I will focus on three moments, two of which created controversy with the show and the shows producer Lorne Michaels.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Less Than Zero/Radio Radio (1977)

In December of 1977, Elvis Costello & The Attractions appeared on Saturday Night Live as a last minute replacement for the Sex Pistols, who were unable to get passports. This is perhaps the most infamous appearance that a band had on the show. There have been a few reasons thrown around as to why the band were not supposed to play the song “Radio Radio”. It has been said that his US record label wanted Costello to play an already known song “Less Than Zero” for an audience for better promotional purposes of the American release of My Aim is True and This Years Model. Another reason given was that SNL producer Lorne Michaels did not want the song to be broadcast because of its lyrics which negatively portrayed the commercialized state of radio and media, and also that it would put the show off schedule. Regardless of what happened, in true Punk Rock fashion Costello stopped the band from playing “Less Than Zero” after a few bars and then launched into a furious rendition of the then unreleased “Radio, Radio”. Costello was banned from the show for 25 years, until 1989. Also in 1999 as part of SNL’s 25th anniversary The Beastie Boys began playing “Sabotage” only to be stopped by Elvis Costello, they then ran through an energy high version of “Radio Radio”.

The Replacements – Bastards of Young (1986)

In January of 1986, The Minneapolis Punk band The Replacements appeared on Saturday Night Live to promote their new album Tim, released on Sire Records. They got banned after their performance, but it was due to a few factors. For one, they showed up wasted for their performance, the second thing that occurred was apparently during the performance of this song and the second song (“Kiss Me On The Bus”) the band were uttering profanities. While they may have been off mic and not heard very clearly, this was most definitely due to their inebriations. The most obvious slip was apparently before the solo of “Bastards of Young” where singer Paul Westerberg said the F-word to the audience. As a result, the band were banned from Saturday Night Live. In re-runs of the episode this part was edited out. Paul Westerberg appeared on the program later on to promote his solo career, redeeming himself.

The Specials – Gangsters (1980)

The Ska revival act The Specials appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1980. This performance was not controversial per-se, but rather a highly energetic and fascinating live moment that occurred in the TV show’s history. This version of the bands then single “Gangsters” featured a band jumping around with excitement and guitar solos that grip you and suck you in. The band is clearly on playing excellently, they would also perform the song “Too Much Too Young” in a similar fashion. After watching this performance you can see and feel the energy of not only Punk attitude, but Rock and Roll.

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Forming in 1977, Yachts were a band from Liverpool. Consisting of Henry Priestman (vocals/keyboards), J.J. Campbell (vocals), Martin Watson (guitar/vocals), Martin Dempsey (bass/vocals) and Bob Bellis on drums, Yachts played a unique blend of Power Pop fuelled New Wave that fit in well amongst the music of Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. After playing their first show as Yachts supporting Elvis Costello in Liverpool at a place called Eric’s Nightclub, Yachts got a recording contract with Stiff Records. The bands first single was the extremely catchy and witty “Suffice To Say”. Another single followed, but it was a novelty single titled “Do The Chud” the band was called Chuddy Nuddies. When Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe made the move to Radar Records, Yachts followed. Another single followed in September 1978, their first for Radar “Look Back In Love (Not Anger)” backed with “I Can’t Stay Long”.

Heading to New York, Yachts recorded their first full length album with producer Richard Gotteher. The songs featuring infectious organ provided by Henry Priestman complemented with Power Pop aesthetics. The album featured twelve tracks building on not only their New Wave/Power Pop style, but also on their at times humorous lyrics. “Mantovani’s Hits” which asks questions such as what if Rock music never happened and nothing had progressed since the 1950s Mantovani Light Orchestra and “Yachting Type” a cult classic which is about someone’s girlfriend running off with a Yachtsmen are good examples of thier lyrical style. Released in June of 1979 the album also initially came with a bonus 7 inch single featuring a live version of the bands first single “Suffice To Say” and the song “On and On”. When released in the US, the album was titled S.O.S, where it cracked into the Billboard top 200 album charts at number 179. A tour followed in parts of US and Europe, Yachts toured with the likes of Joe Jackson and The Who. The band also toured with XTC, Elvis Costello, Boomtown Rats, and Ian Dury.

The bands second album Yachts Without Radar, was recorded with UK producer Martin Rushent. It was released in 1980, the titled reflected their parting with the Radar label. The album was not as well received as the bands first full length album and musically it emphasized more of a 80s based sound. Yachts released one more single in 1981 “A Fool Like You” on Demon D Records before disbanding. Henry Priestman went on to play in other groups most notably It’s Immaterial. The Yachts are an example of one of the many bands from the Punk/New Wave era that are not always mentioned due to the overpopulation of bands, and they are another example of a great lost band from the New Wave era.

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About The Show

Revolution Rock is an award winning radio program on CJAM FM that first began broadcasting on CJAM’s airwaves in the late night hours of June 2004. Revolution Rock focuses on 60s garage rock, 70s punk/new wave, surf, alternative, indie and new/old music within those genres. Currently the show can be heard Saturday's from 7-9 PM on CJAM 99.1 FM (in the Windsor/Detroit area) and streamed online at cjam.ca. This is an informative blog that provides band profiles, download links to the radio show, playlists and more.

About Me

I am the host of the Revolution Rock radio program on CJAM 99.1 FM (Windsor/Detroit), freelance blogger/writer, musician and film maker.
Download links to my show are provided by the the CJAM website and can be found at the bottom of each play list on this blog and can also be subscribed to as a podcast.